Mattis to Meet with AfriCom Commander Ahead of Niger Ambush Report

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Sunday the investigation into the Niger ambush that killed four U.S. troops will involve the broader context of the U.S. mission and how it fits with overall French operations south of the Sahara. "It is extensive; it is thousands of pages long," Mattis said of the Article 15-6 fact-finding investigation of the Oct. 4 ambush near the village of Tongo Tongo in northwestern Niger, near the Mali border. "It is looking at all aspects, not just to this specific incident but to the broader circumstances surrounding that incident, so you get a holistic view," he told reporters traveling with him on a weeklong trip to Europe. Mattis on Sunday began a trip to Rome, Brussels, Stuttgart and Munich for a series of meetings with his European counterparts and NATO officials. France has several thousand troops in Mali to combat extremism in the region by...